Georgiana McCrae

Georgiana Huntly McCrae (15 March 1804 – 24 May 1890) was an English-Australian painter and diarist.

Early life Born in London, McCrae was the illegitimate daughter of George Gordon, the Marquess of Huntly, son and heir to Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon. Her mother was Jane Graham, about whom little is known: ‘whether she was a housemaid or a milliner, a singer or an actress, she did not belong to Lord Huntly’s world’. Her father, although he publicly acknowledged her, played little part in her life but he financially supported her mother.

Developing her talent (1813–1821) In 1813 Georgiana’s beloved aunt, Margaret Graham died. She had left her sister (Georgiana's mother) £400, which was set aside for Georgiana’s use, possibly to buy a home of her own one day.

Melbourne (1841–1845)

After a four month journey involving the usual excitements, including a severe storm and a birth at sea, the Argyle anchored in Hobson's Bay, near Melbourne on 1 March 1841. The newly reunited family moved into Argyle Cottage in Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, its steep rent of £100 per annum reflecting the lack of housing in the new town. A third McCrae brother, Alexander, arrived in Melbourne in 1841, joining Andrew and Farquhar to start his life afresh —- albeit with a lot of quarrelling between their respective families. they moved there in February 1842. It provided a ‘bush idyll’ for the four boys.

The next six years at Arthur’s Seat were spent living simply, with the surrounding area providing them with enough fish, game, vegetables and wheat to be almost self sufficient.

In her last years, alternating homes with the families of her daughters in Kew and Hawthorn, Georgiana occasionally travelled to Cape Schanck, where she painted and spent time with Edith Howitt at the house she shared with her husband, Robert Anderson. She remained intellectually alert, but could be irascible, and also suffered physical ailments such as a troublesome hip and poor circulation. Sensing her life was coming to a close, she made out her will on 6 May 1890. She died on 24 May 1890, aged 86, in the presence of almost all her family.

Georgiana was 'prevented by the conditions of her life from reaching her full height as an artist': this included her illegitimate birth, marriage to a man who was not her first choice, and an exile to Australia, where she was repeatedly dislodged from beloved homes. However, her household was a beacon to artistic men and women, some ‘as isolated and unhappy as she was’, and she showed herself as a woman 'of great courage, personality and ability'.